


Heartless

by determinant



Category: The Walking Dead (Video Game)
Genre: AU, M/M, Rating will go up in later chapters, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-09 11:13:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1980786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/determinant/pseuds/determinant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Nick meets Luke during the apocalypse. (more like AU where luke is actually a good friend, TELLTALE.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Keep quiet, Nick," his mom whispered, pulling him down from view. The window of the ransacked coffee shop was large and broken, but some dried up potted plants kept Nick and his mother hidden from the survivors walking outside. A young man and woman, who remained oblivious to the people observing them. Nick twitched, his instincts telling him he should help, call out to these people.

"We should help," Nick whispered, not looking away from the people. "I think she's injured." They moved very slowly along the street and Nick could see even far away that the movements of the woman were clearly pained. She wobbled every time she took a step forward.

"We should," his mom agreed. "But the world ain't like that now. We need to take care of ourselves first."

The woman stumbled and fell to her knees. The man was immediately by her side, slinging her arm over his shoulder. They were close enough now for Nick to see their faces. She was pale, eyes unfocused, hair a mess. She looked like a corpse already. The man looked healthy, even if tired, his dark brows furrowed in worry, brown hair sticking to his forehead. He said something to his sick friend and jerked his head toward a group of about ten walkers behind them that took interest in the noises they had made.

"We can't just fucking stay here and watch," Nick hissed, ready to stand up. "Where's the gun?"

His mother gripped his shoulder with both hands, keeping him down. "Don't. Pete has the gun. There's no way to help without hurting our safety and I'll be damned if I let my son die before me." Her voice was stern but pleading."We need to be careful, Nick. Please."

"This ain't careful. It's heartless," Nick tore himself away from her and stood up. The walkers were on the other side of the street, slowly moving towards the two people. The man pulled out a machete from behind his back and tried to shield his friend while guiding her away from the horde and towards the coffee shop. Nick stepped over the window sill and called out to the strangers.

”Over here!” He gestured towards the coffee shop. The man turned too fast, the sick woman's weight making him stumble. The walkers were too close now, there was no way the man could drag his friend to safety fast enough. Nick rushed to help them, suddenly regretting not taking a weapon.

”Take her, please,” the man said and thrust the woman for Nick to carry. Nick slung her arm over his shoulder and started moving away. The man turned to hack the head off the nearest zombie and barely avoided the next.

Nick dragged himself and the nearly unconscious woman away from the walkers as fast as he could. His stomach felt frozen and his heart beat faster with every second. Throughout all of the apocalypse he hadn't been this close to danger before.

The locked door of the coffee shop opened and Nick's mother ran out with a kitchen knife. Her eyes were wide as she saw the walker's approaching.

”NICK, NO!” she yelled but it was too late. Nick felt someone grab his forearm and felt a breath too close to his neck. He managed to sidestep enough to avoid the bite, but the grip on his forearm didn't relent, no matter how hard he tore himself away. With another person hanging over his shoulder, he couldn't do much without dropping her and undoubtedly letting her be devoured.

A knife broke through the walker's eye. It let out the most disturbingly human sound as it collapsed and finally let go of Nick's arm. His mother seemed surprised by her own actions, staring at the bloody knife in her hands and then at Nick. Her expression hardened.

”Go. I'll watch over you,” she said and positioned herself behind Nick. Nick didn't hesitate to grab the sick woman up in his arms and run towards the open door. He carefully set her down on a booth inside and rushed back out.

Stepping back and looking at the chaos was almost surreal. His mom was stabbing another walker against a wall while the man was almost surrounded by them, slashing the ones he could reach. One of the walkers lunged at him, but he sliced it's throat open before it had the chance to grab him. Another grabbed his wrist and he was so busy hacking it off that he didn't see another coming towards him.

”Watch out!” Nick yelled and began running as the man fell under the weight of the walker. The machete flew from his hand and he was defenseless. Nick wouldn't reach him in time.

A loud bang echoed the street and the walker collapsed. The man looked around, trying to see who the shooter was.

”Uncle Pete,” Nick cheered when he saw where the bullet came from. His uncle aimed at the next walker and shot it too. It didn't take many shots before all the walkers were down. The stranger got up from under the walker and got his machete back. He sheathed it and looked at a loss for what to do next.

”I leave you for one minute...” Pete walked to the bloody group. He extended his hand towards the new person. ”Nice to see a new face. My name's Peter Randall.”

”Oh, uh... I'm Luke. Nice to meet you too, sir,” They shook hands.

”Call me Pete. There's hardly a need for formalities these days,”

”We need to do something about that girl you're with,” Nick's mother said. ”She seemed sick.”

”She's... She was bitten,” Luke glanced at the coffee shop. ”I don't know if she'll make it.”

”A bitten girl?” Pete asked. ”Where is she?”

”In the coffee shop. Come,” Nick's mom beckoned, leading them inside.

 

The girl was hardly breathing. Luke told them her name was Jade and showed the bite on her left leg. It looked awful and inflamed. Nick's mom knelt beside her and tried to clean the bite while the others stood back and watched nervously. This was the first bite victim Nick had met, so he didn't know what to expect. They didn't know if the bites we're even treatable.

”How does she look, Linda?” Pete asked after a while.

”I don't know much about bite victims, but I'd say it's not good.” Nick's mom said. ”She's burning up.”

”We might have to leave soon. Every lurker within a mile is heading this way after all the racket with the gun.”

”I don't think we can handle another horde. Someone should go scouting to see which way is the clearest.”

”I'll go,” Pete said, already moving towards the door. ”Don't get hurt, people.” He closed the door behind him.

As his mom tried her best to help the girl, Nick focused on the other new arrival. He seemed worried, as one might expect, but not _truly_ worried. It was the kind of worry you would feel for a passer-by stumbling down stairs, hoping they hadn't broken their neck, but ultimately not remembering them the next week.

If the girl didn't make it, would Luke leave to survive on his own or would he join Nick's group? He seemed trustworthy enough, but it was always hard to tell what someone was really like so quickly. It seemed like the apocalypse brought out the worst in people, so a new member in the group could get somebody killed.

He realized he'd been staring at the guy when their eyes met for a brief second.

”You didn't tell me your name earlier,” Luke said, walking casually to stand next to Nick..

”Oh, yeah, sorry. I'm Nick,” he said.

”Well, Nick, thanks for saving us,” Luke smiled. ”People don't do that much anymore. Folks would lock their doors and point guns at us as soon as they saw her condition. I'm glad there's at least one guy with a heart.”

”Pete's the one who saved you. I didn't kill even a single walker.”

”And still saved two people. So thank you.”

Nick wondered if saving the woman counted. With no real medicine or disinfectant, she barely had a chance to survive.

”How do you know her?” He asked. ”Was she important to you, like a girlfriend or something?”

”Nah, never had much luck with relationships,” Luke said. ”I only met her a few days back. Neither of us had a group, so we teamed up. Don't even know her last name.”

”Explains why you're not that worried about her.”

Luke glanced at him, maybe offended by the implications of not caring, maybe just surprised Nick noticed. He didn't have time to find out when his mother spoke up.

”Oh, I think she's finally waking up,” she said. ”Jade, you're safe now. Can you hear me?”

Jade let out a groan and opened her blank eyes. Nick realized something was wrong immediately, but it was still too late. The walker lunged at his mother and took her by surprise. She fell and the walker crawled on top of her, trying to bite any piece of skin it could. She struggled beneath it when Nick pushed the walker off and Luke cracked it's head with his machete.

”Fuck, _fuck._ Mom?” Nick knelt down and took hold of her hand. ”Are you alright? You're fine, right?”

She sat up on her elbow and squeezed Nick's fingers. They both looked down at her arm at the same time. It was covered in tiny bites and one bigger bite, bleeding more than Nick had seen anything bleed before. It was his fault. He wanted to help the girl.

”I'm sorry, I didn't listen,” Nick felt his voice thick in his throat. ”It's my fault, I can fix this. We can cure it, right?”

”No... Don't let me turn. Don't let me hurt you like this,” his mother looked up at him. ”You have to shoot me, honey.”

”B-but, this can't be it for you. Something has to cure this,” Nick tried to keep himself together. ”We have to try.”

”We just tried and it doesn't work. Nick, you have to do it.”

”But I c-”

”Nick...” Her voice was stern but pleading.

”I-... I don't have a gun. Uncle Pete took it with him.”

Luke shifted on his feet. ”Jade had a gun. It's in her front pocket.”

Nick looked up to see Luke with the same not truly worried frown as before. He nodded to Luke and reached towards the corpse. The gun he pulled out was a small pistol. Holding it in his hand made the reality of the situation really strike.

”Mom, I don't know if I can.” He said. He couldn't bare to shoot a deer as a boy, so how could he shoot his own mother?

”I won't feel anything, I promise,” she smiled, but it was a tired smile. ”Just... tell me you'll be careful. That you'll take care of yourself.”

Nick couldn't trust himself to form words without crying, so he just nodded and squeezed his mother's hand. She squeezed back.

”Nick, don't let yourself turn. My little boy...”

The safety was turned off.

The gun was aimed.

_  
click_

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

”You gotta get over it,” Luke said. ”It's been months.”

His voice had a balance between _sorry for your loss_ and _shut the fuck up._ Lately the _shut up_ part was winning. Nick frowned at the dirt road they were walking on. Sweat was dripping down every part of his body and the sun would occasionally shine through the leaves and make him squint. Nick hadn't thought that during an apocalypse he'd die of heat stroke in the middle of a forest, but right now that seemed to be very likely.

He didn't have the energy to answer Luke in a way that didn't involve at least three different curse words and angry glaring, so he just left it at that. Today was just one of those days when he remembered what happened and then felt guilty for not mourning every day. It was a strange part of getting over death. You don't always want to get over it. Try to explain that to someone who didn't mourn over anything, though. He tried, but Luke just couldn't understand.

”Give him time,” Pete said.”The boy's sensitive. Even held a funeral for a dead fly once.”

Luke chuckled. ”Really? That's adorable.”

”Fuck you guys,” Nick said, but he couldn't make himself stay angry. Mostly because the heat made him just want to jump naked in a lake and drink cold beer. He kept pulling at his dark blue t-shirt, trying to make it not stick to his skin.

”I'd kill for a razor right now,” Luke said, stroking his stubble. ”My face is so hot it's burning.”

Nick glanced at Luke. Yeah, he was definitely hot. Anyway, now that Luke mentioned it, shaving would be great. Last time had been... a month ago, maybe? They had found a pair of scissors in a house that nobody had taken yet. All the knives were usually gone, taken as weapons, but apparently few people wanted to run with scissors. It was the horrible for shaving too. Nick's face had been full of cuts and uneven patches of hair. Right now, even that seemed preferable to the sweat collecting and itchy beard he had.

”What we need is water,” Pete said. ”Ain't no use having a pretty face if you die of thirst.”

”Well, it's no harm either.”

A scream echoed in the forest. Nick stopped in the middle of his step, hand bolting to his pocket, ready to take out his pistol. He exchanged looks with Luke, who had already pulled out his machete. Pete took slow steps forward, looking around to see where the scream came from.

”Stay quiet. Might be walkers out there,” he said, voice low, as he approached a small hill on the side of the road. The distressed noises seemed to come from behind it, and now Nick recognized more people arguing. Not walkers, then. He followed Pete cautiously up the hill and crouched behind some shrubs at the top to keep out of sight. Pete lay flat on the ground, hunting rifle ready to shoot.

”See anything?” Nick asked.

”Hmm... Bandits.”

Nick dared to peek through the leaves. There was a small river not far from the hill. On the other side, a man was holding another man at gunpoint, while a woman was searching through a bag.

” _Then how the fuck did you get that stuff?”_ the man with the gun yelled. It was hard to tell from such a distance, but both of the bandits seemed to have the same kind of assault rifle. The man poked his captive's shoulder with the barrel of the gun. The man on the ground said something, but Nick was too far to hear it clearly. Whatever he said, it didn't please the gunman. _”Bullshit. You stole it.”_

”I can't hear them. Should we get closer?” Luke asked, looking ready to pounce.

”Not unless you've got a death wish, boy.”

Luke relented, slumping down from his feral crouch.

” _Am I really supposed to believe you found those meds in a magical fairy stash in the woods? Last time I checked, aspirin wasn't a fucking plant.”_

” _No, I didn't say that! Please, I didn't steal it from you.”_ The captive wailed so loud that Nick could easily make out the words.

” _Shut up, both of you,”_ the woman searching the bag snapped. _”You're damn walker bait, screaming like that.”_

The gunman lowered his voice and said something to the woman, who turned away with a sour look on her face. She pulled out a wallet from the backpack and inspected it. Her eyes widened and she showed the wallet to the gunman. She said something that made the gunman almost leap to grab the wallet, leaving their captive unattended. The captive quickly realized this and rose to his feet, hand disappearing inside the front of his jacket.

”Holy shit. We should help,” Luke said, again ready to charge down the hill. Nick grabbed his arm to keep him grounded.

”No way, man. If somebody's getting hurt, it can't be you. It can't be any of us.”

Luke looked like he was going to argue, but a choked scream drew his attention. The captive had slit the gunman's throat with a pocket knife. The woman reacted quickly and drew her gun, but the captive held the struggling body of the gunman as a shield. She still managed to hit his shoulder and get him off balance. He shoved the bleeding body at the woman, forcing her to dodge, and took advantage of the distraction by stabbing the side of her neck. The woman gasped and coughed, trying to get away from his reach. He made to stab her again, but was stopped when bullets ripped through his skull. The knife fell from his hand as he collapsed.

Luke bolted off without warning before Nick could grab him again. He waded across the shallow river to the bandit who shivered on her arms and knees, gun forgotten on the ground. Pete swore quietly and got up, Nick following suit. When they reached the woman, she was motionless on the ground, blood still pouring from her neck. Luke stood there, staring at the bodies.

Pete scanned the place and walked over to the backpack. He closed the zipper and strapped it on his back. ”We might wanna leave as soon as possible. All the gunshots and blood are an open invitation to walkers.”

”Let's search these guys first,” Nick said.

”The bodies aren't even cold yet. Jesus christ, Nick,” Luke crossed his arms. Nick paid no mind to dead body etiquette and searched the gunman's pockets. Luke sighed and shook his head. ”God dammit. Fine.”

Luke searched the woman while Nick searched the two others. The gunman had a lighter, but the captive had nothing but old receipts. His pocket knife was on the ground next to him, so Nick took it and wiped most of the blood off with the knife's former owner's shirt.

”Find anything good?” Nick asked when Luke stood up, fingers slightly bloody.

”All she had was a picture of some kid. We could take the guns, though,” Luke grimaced at his blood coated fingers. ”I'm just gonna wash my hands first.”

Nick collected one of the assault rifles and tried to check if it had ammo left. He pulled at the magazine under the gun, but it wouldn't budge. ”Fucking piece of-... Uncle Pete!”

”Push the release button,” Pete said without sparing a glance at his struggling nephew. Just as Nick was about to look for a button on the gun, something grabbed his leg.

”What the fuck!” he shrieked when he saw that the gunman had reanimated. He tried to step backwards, but the hold on his leg made him stumble and fall. The walker crawled towards him, dangerously close to getting on top of him, but all Nick could think about was how this must've been how his mom felt like when she got attacked. Nick kicked the walker away while crawling backwards, when a bullet ripped through the walker's head.

He barely had time to process what happened before Luke's machete slashed down next to him, crushing the undead woman's skull right before it bit Nick's right arm. Luke settled next to Nick and took his arm, looking to see any bites. Nick tore his arm away.

”I ain't bit,” he lashed out. He scrambled up, holding his new gun so tight his fingers turned white.

”Neither were they,” Pete mumbled, carefully studying the bodies.

”What? That ain't possible. They turned,” Luke said. He turned to Nick, looking for some sort of reassurance. ”You can't turn if you ain't bit, right?”

”Son, I think we might all be infected.”

Pete said it like it was something they'd all known in the back of their minds. Nick's mind went blank. No matter what he did, he'd end up like the bodies on the ground. The only future for anyone was a bullet through the brain.

”We better get moving,” Pete said, already walking away. ”This place is gonna be filled with walkers soon.”

Nick felt Luke's hand guiding him away from the not bitten bodies. He didn't resist and just let himself be guided away.

Their journey away from the river bank continued silently.

 


End file.
